Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.
Three games into the season may seem an odd time to be changing a team's system, but UNLV men's soccer head coach Barry Barto is doing just that.
Following the Rebels' season-opening loss to the University of San Diego last Wednesday, Barto changed from a four-back to a three-back alignment.
Despite having only one day to adapt to the new system, the Rebels came back Friday and beat West Virginia 2-1 at Johann Field. UNLV followed that match with a 1-0 loss to Kentucky, but Barto was pleased with the way his team played against the Wildcats.
"It's still early in the season and we're still trying to sort out some of the kinks, but I'm happy with what we're doing," Barto said as his team prepared for this weekend's Coors Light Soccer Classic at Johann Field.
"We made an adjustment where we moved some players around, basically some tactical adjustments in how we approach the game from an offensive and defensive standpoint. We're using the same same players, we just moved them to where they felt more comfortable."
The Rebels (1-2) will take the new system into Friday's 7 p.m. tournament-opening match against Detroit (1-2), but it really will be put to the test Sunday at noon against 16th-ranked Washington (2-0-1).
B.J. McNichol, Paul Dickinson and Jason Melendez each have one goal for the Rebels through three matches.
In the other tournament matches this weekend, Washington will take on seventh-ranked Southern Methodist Friday at 9 p.m. and Detroit will play SMU Sunday at 2 p.m.
* VOLLEYBALL: After opening the season last weekend with three victories and claiming the title of the Official All-Star Cafe/UNLV Volleyball Classic, the Rebels take to the road this weekend.
Coach Deitre Collins' Rebels (3-0) will face Louisville, Rutgers and Maryland in the Terrapin Invitational Friday and Saturday in College Park, Md.
In wins over the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Iowa State and Louisville, UNLV out-hit its opponents .330 to .063 and had lopsided margins in kills (148 to 79), assists (140-72), digs (103-74) and blocks (25-15).
* WOMEN'S SOCCER: Coach Staci Hendershott's Rebels opened the season last week with a 3-0 win at home against Weber State, then went on the road and defeated San Francisco 3-2 in overtime.
Sophomore forward Janae Sims led the Rebels last week with two goals and one assist and sophomore midfielder Anita Pedford, the 1998 Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, has one goal and two assists.
UNLV resumes its five-game road trip Friday at Michigan State (1-2-1), then plays at Western Michigan (1-1) on Sunday.
* CROSS COUNTRY: After finishing third out of 16 teams at the Jammin' Invitational last weekend in Fullerton, Calif., the Rebels return to Southern California Saturday for the UC Irvine/Asics Invitational in Huntington Beach.
Senior Stephanie Davidson paced the Rebels last weekend with a 14th-place finish in Fullerton, posting a career-best time of 18:34.6. In fact, all eight UNLV runners ran personal bests last weekend.
"It was a good start for us, but it also showed us where we need work," UNLV distance coach Mary Shea said. "There were a lot of positive things, and we plan to focus on those and keep positive."
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